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Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:43 pm

My friend has a 95 VW Cabrio that has a severe bucking/hesitation problem. The car won't go more than 5 MPH even when flooring it, and it bucks like it's about to die pretty violently.

I know absolutely nothing about these cars (have an aircooled Vanagon), but I figured I would see if anyone has any ideas. I've noticed that the car seems to smell like it's running rich, but the real problem is a strong smell of sulfur after driving it, which I can only assume is the cat.

My friend is ready to dump this car (he's not mechanically inclined), but I thought I would give a shot and try to fix it before he does that. Car looks nice otherwise.

Any ideas? Does a plugged up cat sound reasonable? That's what I was thinking, but it could probably be one of many electrical problems as well. Thanks everyone.

Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:38 pm

Could be the cat. Is there much exhaust pressure coming out of the tailpipe? Try banging on the cat and see if it rattles, if it does it's bad. You could unbolt the cat and see it it runs better. It could also be the mass airflow meter. It'll run like crap if that's bad. But I'd definitely check the cat if your smelling a sulfur smell. Is the check engine light on?

Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:09 pm

Yeah, I forgot to mention, the check engine light is definitely on. I will try banging on the cat to see what happens. Your idea about the air mass meter is a good one too. I had a Volvo that had a similar problem (not as severe though) and it ended up being the AMM.

I should attempt to find the AMM and unplug it to see if that makes any difference. Does anybody happen to know where it's located, or have a schematic of the engine? I've never dealt with this engine before and don't really know what I'm looking at.

Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:15 pm

The meter is right off the air filter box.